Visual Basic (classic)

Visual Basic (VB), sometimes referred to as Classic Visual Basic or as VB6, is a third-generation programming language based on BASIC, as well as an associated integrated development environment (IDE). Visual Basic was developed by Microsoft for Windows, and is known for supporting rapid application development (RAD) of graphical user interface (GUI) applications, event-driven programming, and both consumption and development of components via the Component Object Model (COM) technology. VB was first released in 1991. The final release was version 6 (VB6) in 1998. On April 8, 2008, Microsoft stopped supporting the VB6 IDE, relegating it to legacy status. The Microsoft VB team still maintains compatibility for VB6 applications through its "It Just Works" program on supported Windows operating systems. Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET) is based on Classic Visual Basic. Because VB.NET was later rebranded back to Visual Basic, the name is ambiguous: it can refer to either Classic Visual Basic or to the .NET version. Just as BASIC was originally intended to be easy to learn, Microsoft intended the same for VB. Development of a VB application is exclusively supported via the VB integrated development environment (IDE), an application in the contemporary Visual Studio suite of tools. Unlike modern versions of Visual Studio, which support many languages including VB (.NET), the VB IDE only supports VB. In 2014, some software developers still preferred Visual Basic 6.0 over its successor, Visual Basic .NET. Visual Basic 6.0 was selected as the most dreaded programming language by respondents of Stack Overflow's annual developer survey in 2016, 2017, and 2018.